Thursday, August 29, 2013

Last summer, my daughter requested that I make a quilt for the Sportsman's Club field day back home. I spent most of the summer trying to decide on a pattern and fabric. Then on the first weekend of August while on the HWY 127 Yd Sale somewhere in Tennessee, I came across a lady that was selling as many cowboy shirts as I could stuff in a garbage bag for 1 buck. At that moment I remembered theSeven Shirts + Seven Steps = One Thrifty Quilt blog post I'd found & printed about 4 years ago.

PERFECT! A quilt from Cowboy shirts made for a Sportsman's club that consisted mostly of Kentucky Cowboys!

14 shirts in all.

These are the 7 shirts I chose with 2 lights, 4 darks and a dominate red.

I did get the shirts cut up according to directions and started sewing strips together. It all came to a halt when I broke my arm in the middle of August at the state fair. A year later, this past July, I picked the project back up to finish the quilt for this year's field day.

The quilt consists of a combination of snowball blocks and 9 patch squares. Above, you see the 2½" squares being sewn onto a 6½" light square.

I used a water erasable fabric marker to draw a guiding line on the sewing machine case. Had to be careful not to stretch this fabric which was on the bias of the fabric.

Assembly lined to cut off corners.

When possible, I kept features of the shirts such as tags, buttons, & button holes.

The 6½" snowball & 9 patch squares were arranged to match corner fabrics which created the overall design.

The directions said to make up the corner squares using a design of your choice.

I decided to use the leftover corners cut off from the Snowball blocks.

The double border consisted of a strip of the dominant red used in the center of the 9 patch and a row called "Piano Keys."

Just some simple machine free motion quilting was done. Directions suggested to tie the quilt with the buttons from the shirt. All of my shirts except one used snaps, so I didn't have the button choice.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Update:A cousin told me they could be called "Naked Ladies."After researching online a big, I did find confirmation.They are of the Amaryllis family and yes, they are a lily. http://daviswiki.org/naked_lady

Friday, August 23, 2013

Made this lap quilt last week for my beloved neighbors across the street that
gradually disappeared over the past month
to southern GA to be closer to family.
I will miss them dearly.

*****************************

I know you've seen this pattern everywhere on the Internet,

but I put a tut together anyway.

I needed to make a quilt fast, so I cut strips 5 ½" which was the width of my cutting ruler.

Sew 3 strips together; then cut those across in 5 ½" strips.

Make a 9 patch with those strips.

Cut exactly through the middle in both directions.

I flipped opposite corners, but you can make any design you like.

Then sew the one you like together.

My stack of cut up 9 patches with the pin on the side to be sewn.

This was my first attempt at free motion quilting.

I
embroidered quilts my neighbor made for her son and daughter. She had
several Bible verses put on the quilts. I had not known about
"Inspiration" quilts until then. So, I put one small "inspiration" on
their quilt and signed it. Yes, I'm lucky my signature is an inspiration as well, so I also freehand signed as well.

This quilt is made from curtain fabric. I intend for it to have some rugged use on the beach.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

All pictures untouched, except to blur faces for identity purposes, were taken with a Canon Power Shot SX260 HS with 20X Optical Zoom

#1-Had no idea I caught the announcement about the Quilt Expo which I knew nothing about. I have to check into that.

Dogs for dog show were rescued dogs.

All night shots except last were taken while sitting inside a large tent. Add an extra 15-20 ft to fairway. This little camera has an amazing zoom distance, but hard to focus action @ that distance. I'm guessing the blur of these pictures is what you call "grainy?"

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

There was a time in my life when I lived on a farm, and lots of caps were worn, and eventually HAD to be washed. For some reason, caps weren't usually worn after a washing.

One day about 20 years ago, I bought a new serger. While in search of something to catch the droppings the serger made, I grabbed one of those clean hats, sewed up the back, and stuck the bill of the cap under the serger.

Today that serger AND that cap are still with me and working great! (Now, I shall go knock on some wood.)

Yesterday, we took a trip to IKEA. We hadn't been since they had finished their new set up this past spring. I discovered something I don't believe IKEA was offering a year ago. IKEA had created a knockoff of MY design.

Yep, it certainly appears to be made from muslin. They also had a much longer shade as well. I must admit, not a bad price, but mine was basically free since it was muslin I inherited from my Grandmother.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Finally, what in the world did I get after 4 days on the HWY 127 Yard Sale?

All zippers except white, and the Amish Kid Lid along with a large print crossword puzzle book I've already given Mother, where bought the weekend before driving south of Danville, KY the weekend before the event started.

Bags of scrap fabric. I have sorted and folded them and found 3 pieces that were a yard or more.

How much does one pay for a precut stack of squares?

I have multiple uses in mind. I just have to decide.

I'm always grabbing black, especially when it's free.

All except 2 things in bottom of picture were bought in the big MI 25¢ sale!

I've been looking for Christmas Vacation for about a year. Almost the second I mention to Mr. G I've been looking for it, there it is! I've got the equipment to put these on DVDs. I'd better hurry up before DVDs go by the wayside.

We didn't find as much free stuff on this HWY as we did HWY 68 in June. However, on Sunday finally some free boxes showed up either in sales or people left in boxes by the road marked free. Almost as good as free is the 25¢ stuff.

The colorful zippers (bought weekend before in Liberty, KY) I though were 10¢. When I got to check-out, I found out they were half price! I went back and got more, of course.

I've been collecting fake fruit for nickels and dimes.

Funny to fake out Mr. G when he goes to grab a piece of fruit and has to figure out which is real.

Hey, they don't draw flies this time of the year!

I've been waiting for someone to get rid of one of these stars because it's rusted.

Paint works wonders!

Well of course we didn't get a medal for completing the whole 690 Mile Yard sale in 3 years, or even a piece of paper, so I got a T-shirt!

Not sure we'll do this again next year. I think we both agree, it's a greater adventure if we haven't traveled the Yard Sale Road before. Have you got a suggestion for a new one?